This Closet Isn't Big Enough for the Two of Us
by raezura
Summary: Yoruichi helps Soi Fon do the hardest thing in her life; come out of the closet.


Usually the first thing Soi Fon wanted to do after her long training sessions was go back to her and her parent's home and relax. But not now. They were constantly bringing up the fact that it was time for her to get married. It was perfectly normal that a girl wouldn't want to talk about this. But Soi Fon had a different reason.

She was gay.

It was hard to say to herself at first. After all, with all her brothers gone, she was expected to be the heir to the Fon's. How could she do that if she would never be attracted to a man? All the signs were there.

Soi Fon remembered the times she was put back with the girls of her family, her aunts and cousins. They would read magazines from the world of the living and point out the attractive men. She remembered looking over the magazines and feeling nothing. No attraction. Nothing. She knew that she was supposed to feel something judging by the reactions of the women around her. Still nothing happened.

At one point Soi Fon even believed that it was just because of her age. Years passed by until she was fifteen years old. And still nothing had changed. Except the fact that whenever she saw an attractive women she reacted the same way those women had years ago.

She could avoid telling her parent's about her newfound sexuality for a while. That is, until she reached the proper marrying age. Then the questions would start. There would be no avoiding it then. She decided that it would be easier to tell them now. Besides, they were her parents. They would love her no matter what.

Soi Fon sighed and headed onto the cherry blossom tree lined path that connected her house to the Shihonins. It was spring time and the trees were in full bloom. Occasionally a petal would float down and land on her crisp, black Onmitsukido uniform.

At the end of the path there was an abrupt turn that lead into the courtyard of the Fon estate. She could already smell the food that her mother had spent the day making. It made her mouth water. Soi Fon walked quickly from the courtyard to her front door. With little difficulty she pulled open the large doors.

"I'm home," she called in Chinese, happily returning to the language she used at home with her parents. Her mother poked her head out from the kitchen. "Welcome home, Shao Lin," she cried. "I have supper already for you." Soi Fon entered the kitchen and saw that her father was already seated at the long dining room table. She bowed to him and he nodded in response.

Soi Fon pulled out a chair and sat down. Her mother came over and set a bowl down in front of her daughter. It was filled with piping hot dumpling soup. She served her husband and then sat down. "So Shao Lin," she started. "How was your day?"

"Very good Mama," Soi Fon responded. "Yoruichi-sama helped me with some of my fighting techniques." Immediately after the words left her mouth she knew she had made a mistake. The rest of the Fons referred to Yoruichi only as 'Shihonin-dono', a term worthy of the princess.

"Yoruichi-sama?" her father questioned. "When did you start calling her by such an informal name?"

Soi Fon blushed. "She insisted I do so. She hates formalities." Her mother gave her a disapproving glance and turned her attention back to her soup. Suddenly she perked up and beamed at Soi Fon.

"That reminds me Shao Lin," she said excitedly. "I met with the mother of another family. They have a son that's just your age! He's absolutely charming and I think you'll get along with him nicely. Now he's Japanese but I don't-"

"Mom?" Here it was. It was time to break the news on her parents.

"Yes, Shao Lin?"

Soi Fon took a deep breath and opened her mouth. "I can't marry him Mama. I can't marry any man."

Her parents exchanged confused glances. "Now why on earth can't you?" asked her perplexed father.

"I can't marry a man because I'm…I'm gay."

She heard the slap before she felt it. There was such a force behind it that it knocked her out of her chair. She fell onto her back as all of the wind was knocked out of her. As she tried to ignore her reflex to attack the person who harmed who she stared back at her mother.

"Mama?" Soi Fon whimpered. Another slap hit the side of her face. Then another. And another. They continued to rain down on her body until she went numb. She managed to roll away and cursed herself for not moving sooner. But her training had never prepared her for something like that.

She looked up into the face of her attacker, a person who she had known and loved for years. The woman was heaving from the effort she put into the beating she had just given her daughter. "Don't ever call me Mama again," she said to a stunned Soi Fon. "I never want to hear that name leave your filthy lips again."

Though Soi Fon's vision was blurring she could see her father approach. He put his hands on the shoulder of his wife. "We'll make a deal with you Shao Lin. You get married to a nice young man and continue on your life as if this night never happened. And in return we'll give you food, clothing, and shelter. Not to mention you'll still have the Fon name."

She looked into his eyes. "Y-you, you're asking me to lie?" she asked. "For the rest of my life?" In her surprise he threw back his head and laughed.

"You're not lying Shao Lin. You have a disease. And once we cure that disease you won't believe that you're…gay." He spat out the last word with disgust.

Soi Fon was furious. Despite her screaming muscles she pushed herself up from the ground. "You can't accept who I am as a person," she stated. "You don't care about me. You don't love me!"

Her mother tried to move to slap her daughter again but her husband held her back. "Fine. Then you leave. You never contact us again. We will erase you from the family records. Is that what you want?"

She was conflicted. Should she stay with her family but give up who she was in the process? Or should she leave and lose everybody she cared about? Not everyone though. She would still have Yoruichi. It was with that that she made up her mind.

"Fine then," Soi Fon said as she tried to stop her voice from shaking. "I'll leave." Her attempt to stay strong quickly faltered as she burst out crying. Her parents didn't even look sympathetic. With one last look back at them she ran out of the house.

She ran as far as her small legs would take her. Where could she go now? She had no place to stay. An idea hit her. Yoruichi had given her a small room to stay in next to her own bedroom. It was reserved for nights when her goddess needed protection at night. She could easily stay there that night and then explain her actions in the morning.

The entrance to the Shihonin estate was only a few yards from where she stood now. Soi Fon pulled her black mask on over her head and shunpoed to the roof of the mansion. She could see the shoji door that lead to Yoruichi's room from there.

She prepared to shunpo again down to the bedroom when she felt a hand on her shoulder. As she spun around she grabbed for her sword. "Whoa, Soi Fon, calm down," the person declared. "It's just me."

Soi Fon sheathed her sword and fell into a bow. "I'm sorry Yoruichi-sama," she apologized. "I was just-"

"Just what?" Yoruichi asked. "Sneaking on top of my house at night?" Soi Fon started to stammer another apology. "Oh stop it," the caramel-skinned woman said. "I figure that came to find me. Though I advise you if you're sneaking around at night to hide your Reiatsu. An enemy could have seen you coming from a mile away."

Soi Fon felt tears start to trickle down her face. She tried to stop them but it was no use. The other woman saw the tears and bent down. "Hey now," she said. "I was just trying to help. Don't cry." The girl just cried harder. In order to wipe the tears away Yoruichi pulled of Soi Fon's mask. In the moonlight she could see the beginnings of bruises across the girl's face.

"Soi Fon," she asked. "What happened?" The girl sniffed and wiped the tears out of her eyes.

"I'm sorry for crying in front of you," said Soi Fon. "I should know better than to show my emotions." Yoruichi stared at her blankly. Was this the kind of thing they taught the new recruits?

"Please," she pleaded. "Forget that bodyguard stuff for a moment. Who did this to you?" Soi Fon started to cry so hard that she began to sway. Yoruichi reached out and grabbed her. She pulled the girl into a tight hug. They stayed like that for a matter of minutes before she spoke up.

"M-my parents did it. They found out that-" Soi Fon stopped abruptly.

"Found out what?"

"Nothing."

Yoruichi pulled back and looked the girl in the eyes. "What did they find out?" For the second time that day Soi Fon's heart was racing. What if Yoruichi reacted the same way her parents did? Then she would truly have no one left. But she wouldn't know until she told the woman.

"They found out that I'm gay."

Yoruichi reacted better than Soi Fon had hoped. There was no violence. No tears or anger. Instead she just hugged Soi Fon even tighter. "They beat you because of that? I'm so sorry," she said, truly sympathetic.

She was shocked. "You're not mad?" The woman shook her head.

"Of course not. I'm mad at your parents but not you," Yoruichi explained. "I didn't know parents would react like that. Mine certainly didn't."

Soi Fon nodded her head then did a double-take. "What do you mean 'mine certainly didn't'?" She asked. Yoruichi laughed.

"Oh Soi Fon, you haven't noticed that I like women?"

Her subordinate shook her head

"You're more naïve than I thought," said the caramel-skinned woman. "After all, why do you think I have you around?" The girl blushed a deep red color while Yoruichi chuckled. "Seriously though, it's good that you came out. After all, this closet isn't big enough for the both of us."

She pulled the young Chinese girl closer. "You can stay with me for as long as you need to. Okay?" Soi Fon nodded. "And Soi Fon?"

"Yes Yoruichi-sama?"

"Thank you for telling me."


End file.
